Page 43 of Rebel Secrets
“Now you can tell her the truth.And I still haven’t told Pop yes.”
Rowdy’s grin widened.“You know you’re going to do it.Don’t know why you think you’re not.”
And like the tornado Rowdy was, he turned and headed in the opposite direction, where I saw Tressy and Krista waiting by the entrance.Tressy did a little finger wave, but it was Krista’s happy arm-waving that made me grin and wave back, before turning my attention back to Ian.
“Sorry about that.Rowdy can be a lot, even in small doses.”
Ian shrugged.“No problem.I know I came at a bad time.You’ve got a lot going on?—”
“Ian.”I leaned forward, just a little, making sure to hold Ian’s gaze.“You don’t wanna tell me what’s going on, that’s fine.You wanna talk, that’s fine too.You’re welcome here for as long as you fucking want to be here.Got it?My place is more than big enough for the two of us.”And I just had a brilliant idea.“If you’re up for it, I might even have a job for you.”
Ian perked up at that.“A job?Seriously?Doing what?I had a job, but it fell through… when everything went to hell.”
I paused for a second, considering what I wanted to say.“You in trouble?You need?—”
“No!”Ian sounded like he’d dropped back into his pre-teen years.“No, I’m not.I just…” He sighed hard, and I knew I had to drop it.
Something had happened, and I hated that he didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell me what was going on.Then again, my face didn’t exactly coax people into confiding in me.And usually, I didn’t want to know.But Ian was a friend.And he had a problem.And yeah, maybe I had more of my dad in me than I cared to admit.
“So, this job,” I said.“I’m not sure you’re gonna want it, but I got…”roped into“an offer I couldn’t turn down.And it turns out, I’m gonna need help.”
Ian finally looked me in the eyes, missing a little bit of the guilt and, yeah, despair, he’d had before.And I knew this was the right thing.For both of us.
“You know my brother’s getting married in a couple weeks, right?And then they’re going on their honeymoon for a couple of weeks.Turns out the local hockey club needs a coach for their two-week camp.Usually, this is something Rowdy would do but?—”
“How come?”
“How come what?”
“Why would Rowdy do it and not you?”Ian looked genuinely confused.“I mean, you’re a fucking awesome player.No offense to your brother and all, but you got an AHL position without coming through the system.That’s fucking awesome.”
I’d heard that before.Someone people had said it straight to my face with a sneer, like I must have bought my way in.Those were players I mopped the ice with during games.They didn’t open their mouths again.Some players, like Ian, had been better about it.Most everybody had an opinion, though.Which meant a lot more attention than I was used to.And that had sucked.
Now, the absolute sincerity on Ian’s face made me smile.Which is what I was doing when a flash of rose-gold hair caught my eye from across the room.I caught Erin’s gaze and the surprise on her face turned my smile into a grin.Which made her mouth drop open in shock.That girl would get fleeced in any poker game she ever played.
My grin quickly turned into a frown when I realized who she was with.What the hell was she doing here with Kade?And why the hell did it matter?
What the fuck, dude?
Kade followed Erin’s gaze and grinned when he saw me.Then I noticed Brian and Rain behind them, and?—
We should’ve stayed home and ordered pizza.
“Is that Erin?”
Ian had followed my gaze, his expression lightening and a smile emerging.
“Yep, that’s Erin.”
“Cool.Can we say hi?”
I didn’t really have to answer that.Kade was already on his way across the room, Rain and Brian close behind.And Erin trailing along behind them, biting her lip as her gaze met mine before hers slid away again.Her smile emerged only when she caught sight of Ian.
My sister didn’t even bother to say hi to me.She was all about Ian, introducing Brian and Kade and never asking him what he was doing here.Brian must have gotten the word around.Good.That was good.
Ian seemed most excited to see Erin, who was all smiles for him.I sat back and let Rain and Erin handle the conversation as Kade and Brian pulled another table over to ours.And in some weird twist of fate, Erin ended up next to me.
I trusted Rain to keep everyone else from overwhelming Ian for the time being.My brain had decided it was more interested in whatever Erin was doing.Which wasn’t much.She sat quietly, fidgeting a little but not enough to be noticeable to anyone else.But her silence would be.And that was because of me.
